Heartstrings
by Ocky-chan
Summary: AU - Hikari just transferred to Senju Academy in a town called Konohagakure in Kyoto. She wants to leave behind her past life and start a new one in a new city. Everything seems to be going fine until she finds her heartstrings being pulled again. Pairings undecided.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naurto or its characters

**Pointers**: _'italics'_ means that the character is thinking

**Summary**: Hikari just transferred to Senju Academy in a town called Konohagakure in Kyoto. She wants to leave behind her past life and start a new one in a new city. Everything seems to be going fine until she finds her heartstrings being pulled again. Pairings undecided.

**Author's Note: **_'Thinking'_ and_ '_**Text/Notes'**

* * *

**Chapter One:**

_Welcome to Senju Academy!_

* * *

And I never thought that I would be moving, especially to Kyoto of all places. I never wanted to move at all, but that's the price you pay when your father's promotion makes you move almost eight hours away from your old home. The only home that you had known all your life, made friends and memories, as well as knew like the back of your hand. Osaka was my everything and now I'll be moving to Kyoto, which is a nice place but nothing like home. As

But what can I say? There wasn't thing that I could do about it and it wasn't like this move wasn't all that hard on me. In fact, I'm actually quite happy about it since my last day at school didn't end the way I had wished. Maybe this change of environment would actually be good for me. Who knows, really? I just hope that I can fit in and make something more of my life. Moving at the age of sixteen though? It didn't sound too much fun to me, but I had just a few more years of highschool left so it'll be fine.

Not just that, I wouldn't have to see his _face_ again.

* * *

"Hikari, did you get the box that says 'China Dishes'?" A woman had called from outside as a young, 5'3'' girl had stood in the middle of what was the kitchen. Her auburn hair, in its usual coiffure that consisted of pigtails had moved along with her head movement.

"Yeah, 'Kaa-chan." She answered before carefully putting the small, brown box in the corner in which she thought would be safe. Moving was sure of wreck, but she had hoped that she could get distracted by the neighbors if they were friendly enough.

The girl walked out of the kitchen and into the open hallway and towards the large, white front door and towards the driveway where she saw her brothers and father struggling with getting everything. Hikari chuckled at her eldest brother, Takumi's, face as he winced.

He didn't live with them and was attending college in Kyoto, which was a good thing for him. He could visit them without all those long hours and Hikari could spend as much time with her favorite brother as long as she wanted.

"Have you met the neighbors yet, sweetheart?" Her mother asked as she was instructing her brothers where certain boxes were and were they should be.

Hikari shook her head, "No. They haven't come to see us?" She asked as her mother shook her head.

"Maybe they're waiting until most of our things are gone. That'll take a whi- Oh wait, nevermind." She said as she smiled, waving at this blond-haired boy that was coming their way. Hikaru's eyes had looked in his direction as he wore this citrus orange shirt, black pants, and black and orange sneakers. Boy, this kid sure loved orange.

"Ohayou gozaimasu!" He cheered politely in which made Hikari smile. This guy had a fun personality, she could tell. "Welcome to the neighborhood, I'm Uzumaki, Naruto." He introduced with a polite bow in tow.

Hikari did the same, "Hajimemashite, Naruto. I'm Kazuna, Hikari." She replied as he stood there, grinning from ear to ear. He had spikey, blond hair and bright blue eyes.

"Where you guys coming from?" He asked, curious as she imagined he would be.

The auburn-haired girl looked at her belongings and then at him, "We're from Osaka." She answered, "My 'Tou-san got a promotion and so that's why we are here." She shrugged a little, not finding her explanation all the credible and short.

The boy, Naruto, merely nodded his head. "Oh, well that means you'll be going to Senju High, right?" Hikari smiled, which confirmed that it was a yes. "We'll be classmates!"

"Great!" Hikari said with much enthusiasm, both of them having their fist balled up in front of them to show their excitement.

"Naruto, I hope you're not causing this girl trouble!" Hikari and Naruto both looked to see a bubble-gum pinkette, with the brightest green eyes that Hikari had ever seen. Her skin was pale and she had a petite figure.

"S-Sakura!" The boy said out of shock as the girl then gave Hikari a welcoming smile, "She's going to our school, Senju High."

"Oh?" Sakura then looked back at the girl, who nodded nervously. Boy, she was slightly awkward. "Well this is great, we're all in the same neighborhood." She smiled, "We can all walk to school together."

"Our other friend Sasuke lives further down the street and we usually walk with him too." Naurto then added, "But it'll be fun."

The auburn-haired girl had her forefinger curling a lock of her hair, trying to find a way to beat her shyness. "Yeah, it would."

Sakura smiled, Naruto still smiling as well. "Oh, does your family need help?"

"No, we're fine." Hikari's twin, Hikaru had answered with a rather dull expression on his face. He looked exactly like Hikari, but instead of the rather big eyes of his sister, his eyes were more almond shaped. His hair was obviously shorter, a bang covering his left eye somewhat and his eyes a darker hazel. Like almost all of his family, they had tan skin. He was also taller than Hikari too, standing at 6'1".

Hikari gave her twin a rather angry expression, her brows knitted together and her eyes reading 'stop being a jerk'. "Sorry, my twin…. isn't the friendly type." She apologized as the boy 'hmphed' and walked off, leaving Naruto and Sakura looking at each other then back at her.

"Your twin, huh? Sounds like fun." Naruto said, interested in the whole idea of having a twin.

"Not really. We're complete opposites!" The dark-haired girl confirmed, "I have six brothers and I'm the only girl." She explained, laughing nervously.

"Six brothers?!" Sakura and Naruto repeated incredulously.

Hikari continued on with her nervous laugh, "Yeah and its harder trying to feed all of them, but three of the oldest ones are in college. One is in college here, the other two are going to college in our Tokyo, while it's just me, my twin, and my other two older brothers." She explained the best way she could.

"Wow," said the pink-haired girl, "I can't imagine your mother trying to feed seven men in one house."

The girl laughed, "Well, she had me to help her when I was a little older. So, I eased her pain some. Anyway, I should be helping unpack, but I'll see you guys Monday for school." She waved her hand as the other two nodded.

"It was nice meeting you, Hikari." Naruto said with a wave as Sakura waved as well and then pulled his ear.

"All right, don't waste anymore of her time!" The blond-haired boy yelped as he was being dragged away, Hikari couldn't help but smile at the bizarre way they behaved towards each other. She wondered how their other friend Sasuke was, she hoped he was just as friendly as they were but not as loud.

With a sharp turn, she had walked towards the moving truck and picked up some of her boxes for her room and carried it into her house. She couldn't wait for the day school would start after meeting those two.

But first, she would have to eat dinner with her family. They managed to unpack enough to have a comfortable meal, "This is delicious, Chiasa." Her father had said, feeling relieved after all their work. Hikari was sitting in between Hikaru and Kichirou. Kichirou had black hair like their mother, which only he and Isamu were the only ones who had. Hikari, Takumi, Jiro, and Hiroshi all had auburn hair like their father.

"So, how were the neighbors?" Chiasa asked as everyone's eyes were on her. The sixteen-year-old girl had picked up her sashimi and before she bit it, answered her mother's question.

"They were pretty nice. I only met two of them, but they are going to be my classmates." She said before she placed the sashimi in her mouth, chewing it.

Chiasa smiled, her husband smiling as well. "Hopefully, you'll make a lot of new friends for the ones you left behind. I'm sorry Hikari, I know how close you were to Saki, Ayumi, and that boy…"

"Arata, 'Tou-san." She corrected him, her eyes looking down as she thought about him. _'Arata…'_

Once dinner was over, Hikari had gone to her room after a bath and lied down on her bed. She brought her cellphone to her face and saw many text messages from Ayumi, Saki, Hiro, and then… Arata. All she had done was put the phone down her the table next to her bed and curl up in a ball. _'I promised myself that I would just forget all about him. I'm going to start myself anew._' She thought, her face pressed against the large panda on her bed.

_**- / - / -**_

"Hikaru, are you comin' or what?" She asked her brother as she was fixing her brown loafers at the door area. Her twin had came walking alongside Kichirou who was adjusting his randoseru before walking over.

"You sure are in a rush; we're already quite a bit early." Kichirou noted as his sister looked at him.

"I promised to walk to school with Naruto and Sakura." She explained as she then stood up, "I can't keep them waiting. Well, whatever."

Daiki and Chiasa had walked towards the door, "Have fun you two." Their mother said before looking at her husband, who was adjusting his tie. "You need to be get going as well."

"Yeah, yeah." He said as his wife then rolled her eyes and then helped adjust his tie before they all came walking out the front door, leaving her and their small Samoyed at home.

"Looks like you're my only company now, Tsuki." Chiasa said as the dog barked at her as if replying.

Hikari then saw Naruto and Sakura at the corner, the girl yelling at him over something. She wasn't sure what the girl was angry about, but Naruto had an uneasy look on his face which to her made it look like it was her fault. When she came over to them, she gave them a smile. "Ohayou!" She greeted them and heard them say it in unison.

"Oh, aren't we supposed to meet your friend?" She asked as they both nodded and pointed up the road, "Oh yeah, that's right." She laughed nervously before following them.

They were all wearing their school uniforms. The girl uniforms were a short, navy blue skirt with a white skirt with a green and white collar with a red, ribbon necktie. The boys wore a white shirt and navy blue pants, but during the winter they wore a gakuran.

They all walked alongside each other, their chatter mostly about how it was like in Osaka and how much she was adjusting to Kyoto. Even though it was her second day here and she hadn't traveled much into the town, she had liked the serene feeling in the town. "Ah, there's Sasuke!" Naruto pointed as a dark-haired boy had leaned against a wooden fence, his hands sheathed in his pockets and his eyes closed.

"Ohayou!" Sakura greeted him with a smile, but the boy had just opened his eyes halfway and gave them a 'hmph'. Maybe that was his way of greeting? Hikari raised her hand and did a slight, nervous wave and his onyx eyes were on her form. She felt herself stiffen and keep her hands on her randoseru's handle.

He was extremely good looking, she could give him that but he had this intimidating expression and aura he pressed off. She summoned that he was aloof, not much of the talkative type. She could also gather he was popular and the objects of Sakura's affection, seeing as the girl's eyes seemed to light up in his presence. Even though Naruto had a smile, she wasn't sure what she saw in those sapphire eyes of his.

"Sasuke, this is our friend Hikari. She just moved here and is going to our Highschool." Naruto captured her attention, her eyes no longer looking at the ground in thought.

The boy didn't say anything for a few minutes. "Uchiha, Sasuke." The auburn-haired girl figured that was his form of an introduction.

"Kazuna, Hikari." She replied shortly, "Hajimemashite." She bowed slightly.

The boy just turned and started to walk, "Sasuke! Wait up!" She said, running to catch up to him.

"He doesn't have much of a friendly attitude." The blond explained, the hazel eyes of the girl beside him looking up at him. "But he's a good friend, almost like a brother to me."

The warmth in his eyes and the way he said that had made Hikari smile as she then looked ahead as Sakura was walking alongside him. "Sakura really seems to like him."

"Ever since we were in Kindergarten." He said as they started walking, still behind them.

The girl nodded her head, "But I kind of thought that you two wer-"

Naruto bursted into a fit of laughter, "No way! Sakura would never look at me in that kind of way." He said even though Hikari frowned, feeling as though he was holding something else back.

"Oh…" Was the only thing she could manage to say. "Well, do you guys have any other friends?" She asked as Naruto nodded his head.

"Don't worry! You'll meet them when we get there! I hope you're in our class." Naruto said as Hikari gave him a small smile.

She could tell that Naruto was a good friend as well as Sakura. Maybe she could make some more friends as well.

Once they reached the school, they had walked through the gates and Hikari had pulled out her slip of paper. "Does it say what class you're in?" He asked as she nodded her head, almost forgetting about during their walk here.

"2-A." She said as he gave her a large grin, "Same class, huh?" He gave her a nod and then headed off towards the class.

Once they reached the classroom, Hikari had walked towards the teacher and stood there waiting. The seats began to fill up and she swore she saw some of the oddest people she had ever seen in her whole life. More importantly, the teacher was, well, very good looking. His eye was covered by his silver hair, but it he did have a striking face. It almost made her forget where she was and even who she was! But Hikari wasn't one to fall for a teacher, which would be just weird in her case. "I'm your homeroom teacher Hatake, Kakashi." He introduced as he gave her a smile and then a marker.

Hikari took the marker in her right hand and began to write the Kanji of her name on the board. "Hello class, we have a new student." He said before looking at her, signaling for her to introduce herself.

"Uh," She then placed a fist over mouth and cleared her throat before lowering her hand. "My name is Kazuna, Hikari and I just moved to Kyoto yesterday. I'm from Osaka and I hope to get along with all of you." She gave everyone an easy smile.

She heard chatter, but none of it seemed to be negative so far. Maybe she did a good first impression. "There's an empty seat next to Naruto in front of Sasuke and behind Sakura. Naruto, raise your hand."

Naruto rose his hand, a grin on his face. Hikari already knew who he was but Kakashi didn't know she knew. She walked down the aisle and then towards the seat, placing her randoseru on the desk before taking out her notebook and mechanical pencils and eraser. She was happy she was next to the window, it would give her something to do whenever she was bored.

The boy gave her a smile and Sakura turned around, "Lucky thing that kid moved out of our class or you might've been stuck next to Lee." She explained, pointing to the boy with the big black eyes and shiny, black bowl cut.

The girl gave him a once-over, a bit surprised by his appearance but made nothing of it. "What's wrong with him?" She asked.

"He's…. a weirdo." The pinkette put it simply as the auburn-haired girl gave her a skeptical expression but shrugged her shoulders. Next to Sakura was a girl with long platinum, blond hair. It surprised her because she figured that she would be next to Sasuke, but next to Sasuke was a boy who was pale and had dark hair and eyes just like him except in her mind, Sasuke was better looking than he was.

Then it was time for roll call, "Aburame, Shino." He called out, a boy with dark shades had raised his hand. He didn't say present or anything, "Okay…" Kaskashi check him off as present. "Akimichi, Choji." He called the next boy, who was a chubby boy. Hikari noticed he was munching on a bag of chips, "What did I tell you about eating in class, Choji? This is not lunch time."

"S-Sorry, Kakashi-sensei." The boy said before rolling the bag at the top and then putting it in his randoseru.

The man sighed and shook his head, "Haruno, Sakura."

"Present"! The pinkette chirped, her hand in the air.

"Hyūga, Hinata." His lone eye searched for the owner of the name.

Hikari looked around as well until he saw a hand hesitantly raise into the air. "H-Here." The soft voice stuttered. She could barely see, but it was a girl with long, dark purple hair and pale skin.

"Thank you, Hinata." Kakashi smiled. "Hyūga, Neji."

"Present." said the brown-haired boy, his voice was serious. Kakashi nodded and check him off.

The man then looked up again, "Inuzuka, Kiba."

"Here!" The boy said, rather loudly too.

"Mhm." The man hummed, "Lee, Rock."

"I am here, Kakashi-sensei! Never would I miss a day of school!" The boy, who Sakura claimed was weird, had then said. Hikari now knew why the girl classified him as weird.

The teacher gave him a dull expression, "I know you would never dream of it." He replied before continuing on, "Nara, Shikarmaru."

"Here…" The boy said with a sigh, his cheek in his palm. Hikari noticed that he was sitting in between Ino and the chubby boy named Choji.

"Sato, Sai." Kakashi called the next student.

"Present." The pale skin boy said, his voice quite as blank but somewhat of a smile appearing.

Kakashi then looked around, "Tenzo, Tenten."

"Present." The brunette answered. She was sitting between Neji and Lee.

"Yamanaka, Ino." Kakashi called next.

The platinum haired girl raised her hand, "Here!" She said in a lively fashion.

"Uchiha, Sasuke." Kakashi called out.

"Here." Sasuke answered with his arm raised.

"And lastly, thank God… Uzumaki, Naruto."

"Here!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

Kakashi nodded and checked off the paper, finally relieved that roll call was over. Hikari then looked at the board as Kakashi pulled out a book from the desk, "Today, we're going to be covering Japanese History."

"Now, can someone tell me what is the name of first age pre-jomon period?" He asked as everyone was already headlining their papers but not bothering to raise their hands. The hazel-eyed girl raised her hand, "Hikari."

"Kyūsekki jidai." She answered as everyone in the class looked at her, surprised. Kakashi was even surprised himself. Hikari looked around and then felt heat rushing towards her cheeks.

"Correct." He smiled, "Nice to know someone knows their history and participates." The man sighed and then began speaking about the history from the book.

Everyone was writing their notes, Hikari then seeing something at the corner of her desk. It was a small, white piece of paper in which the girl noticed was a note. Looking for Kakashi, who was at the other side of the room, she slid the paper towards her and carefully unfolded it and read the contents:

'**Wow, you're pretty smart!' **

Hikari looked around to see where the note came from, she looked to her right and saw that it was Naruto who was giving her handsigns. She nodded and then wrote a reply.

'**Not really, I just use to be a history nut in middle school. I pretty much know all of this.'**

She said, not really wanting to brag. She flicked the paper carefully back at his desk and then hurried up with her notes, trying to catch up with the teacher. In a matter of seconds, the paper was back at her desk.

'**How can you remember all of that? I barely remember what I ate for dinner last night.'**

The girl tried to suppress a laugh, but she caught Naruto's smile. "Am I boring you?" Kakashi said to Naruto, now in front of him which scared the blond half to death, his shriek feeling up the room. Hikari snickered with half of the class.

"Uh, no! I was just uh, wondering what they did back then, Kakashi-sensei." He lied, trying to find a good excuse.

The man hummed for a minute, "If you had been paying attention," he hit the boy upside the head with the book, "then maybe you would know." Naruto hissed and rubbed the back of his head. "Now, no more distractions."

The man then stood up straight and continued on with the lesson, leaving Naruto with a pout on his face. Everything had gone quiet and people were now seriously taking their notes save for a few who rather slept than do anything. Soon the period was over and Kakashi bid his goodbyes as they awaited for the next teacher. "What a show, Naruto." Sakura teased.

"That book was pretty hard, y'know." The boy said as he then placed his hand on his head.

"If you were doing what you were supposed to be doing then you would've have been hit." Ino chimed in, annoying the boy behind her even more.

Hikari then gave Naruto a thumbs up, "At least you didn't get detention." She said, trying to make light of his situation.

"Barely." Sasuke said, "He always gets himself into stupid situations."

Naruto's frowned deepened as he glared at the boy from the corner of his eyes. Sasuke did nothing but smirk and keep his eyes out towards the window.

Even though this was all fun and games, she felt a little bad that they ganged up on him but this had to be normal since he wasn't uspet. "Who is our next teacher?" Hikari asked, shifting everyone's attention away from what happened and on her.

"Iruka-sensei. He's our calculus teacher." Naruto answered. Meanwhile, Hikari frowned, deeply.

"Calculus, huh?" Hikari hated anything related to math. "And then what's after that?"

Sakura then helped, "Then we have Anko-sensei for Japanese, Kurenai-sense for home economics, lunch, Gai-sensei for Gym, and Asuma-sensei for chemistry."

"You know, I don't even know who our principal is." Hikari laughed nervously, "I didn't read much of the school of conduct book since I was distracted by us moving.

Ino then turned to look, "Its no big deal. Nobody reads that book anyway. Our Principal is Tsunade-kouchou and our vice principal is Jiraiya-kyoutou. They are really nice, but Tsunade-kouchou is really… tough if you get on her bad side. She's not as bad as our school disciplinarian, Yamato-sensei. He's really scary."

Hikari blinked several times, "Oh… Okay." She laughed nervously.

"Don't worry, I doubt you'll ever get in trouble." Naruto said as the girl looked at him, almost wondering if that was a compliment or an insult. Instead of finding the words to say back, she decided against it and watched as the new teacher had come into the room.

_**- / - / -**_

It was lunch time and Hikari had taken her bento and decided to go on the roof. She always liked eating on the roof, especially at her old school. She could've told the others where she had gone, but she didn't want to the bother them. Once she made it up there, she plopped down on her backside and leaned against a wall and slid off the lid of her bento.

Her mother promised to make her lunch, but how could she? She had to worry if her father and two brothers had their lunches as well. It never bothered her to make lunch of herself, she was more than happy to.

"There you are." Naruto said in which Hikari looked at him as he walked over, "Why are you eating up here by yourself?"

The auburn-haired girl shrugged, "I didn't want to bother you guys and so I came up here by myself. I like eating on the roof."

"I go up here sometimes too and in the spring me and the group sit under the big Sakura tree. " He said as he sat down next to her.

"Where's your bento?" She asked, "You didn't have any food? Why didn't you buy any?"

Naruto gave her a nervous smile, "Well… I'm not much of a cook and I don't have anyone to make lunch for me. And I don't have any money today to get myself something to eat today since I spent it on something… stupid."

The girl's eyes widened. Did he have any parents? "Well, if you want… You can have some of mine. I've made a lot and I wouldn't mind making you a bento anytime, if that's okay."

The boy looked at her, his eyes wide. "Make me a bento?"

"Yeah, I like cooking. Its something I'm good at and I have enough time in the morning and since I make enough for two people, I don't mind making a bento for you."

"You don't have to do that. Seriously, I don't want you to fe-"

Hikari shook her head, "We're friends, right? And friends look out for each other." She gave him a smile and then pulled out an extra pair of chopsticks, "Go on, and eat."

You didn't have to tell the Uzumaki twice. He immediately went for the tempeh with the sesame noodles. Hikari smiled at how his eyes widened, "This is good!"

"Really?" She said, happy that he enjoyed her food. She took some of the kale salad, knowing that he wasn't really inching towards that but he ate some of the of the chips and pineapple slices.

It was weird how fast friends she and Naruto were, but she felt happy about it. She hoped that they would always be friends as well as her and Sakura and hopefully her and Sasuke and a few of the others in class and in the school.

"I know you're wondering why I don't have anyone to make me lunch." He said as she looked at him, worried.

She didn't want to give the impression that she was nosy, but she was curious. "You don't have to tell me, Naruto."

"No, I do. If you're going to be to making bentos for me then I should." He then looked up at the sky, the few cotton ball clouds slowly moving by.

The girl had taken a chip and looked at him as he kept his eyes upwards. "My mom and dad passed away when I was a baby and I had a caretaker, but they passed away a few years ago. So, I have a job but most of my money goes to my rent anyway and I'm not much of a cooker and I survive on ramen."

The way he said it was so… normal. Like this was normal. The girl beside him frowned, wanting to apologize for making him say it but he already knew. "I-"

"Its fine. It doesn't really bother me since I never really knew 'em and my caretaker, I kind of miss her but I'm fine."

"So, you live by yourself?" She asked as he nodded his head. "If you ever need help, you can always ask me and my parents wouldn't mind you staying with us since we have an extra room."

Naruto looked at her with wide-eyes, "You're too nice." He laughed, a grin on his face. "But I'm fine, I've made it this far and I'll continue to make it."

Hikari couldn't help but smile at his independence, "Okay but it's nice to lean on someone once in a while."

"I know." Naruto said, "Same goes for you. If you need anything, I'll help."

"Thanks, Naruto." She said as she had ate some of the tempeh.

After a few seconds of them enjoying the guy, he then turned to look at her. He was slurping up a noodle, but his eyes soon turned to her as she was looking up at the sky with the ends of her chopsticks touching her bottom lip as she was chewing a pineapple slice. "Hikari." He called her name.

She turned look at him, "What?" She replied.

"Do you plan to join any clubs?" Naruto then asked, biting a chip and then looking at the sky.

The girl shrugged her shoulders, "I use to be on the track and field club in my old highschool."

"You should join ours." He immediately said, somehow she knew that's what he was going to say.

She shook her head, "Nah. I want to try something else…"

"But why? Weren't you good at running?" Hikari quickly gave him a confused expression as his eyes were curious.

Hikari then grabbed another pine apple slice, "How did you know I was a runner?"

"I don't know. I just guessed." Was his reply, a toothy grin adorning his face as she let out a snort.

"Figures." She mumbled, "But well, I was good and I made it into the state championship."

"Then why not join?" His voice was a bit agitated, which she didn't understand why.

The female sighed, "Well… I didn't join track and field for myself, but for someone else."

'_You were always fast, Hikari! You should join track and field, you'll definitely outshine everyone.'_

Her lids lowered, her right fist clenching as his voice echoed loudly into her head. She then closed her eyes as Naruto still looked confused by her words, but tried to be patient even though it wasn't working. "So, you join because someone was on the team or what?"

"It's a bit complicated." The truth was, she didn't want to even think about him, especially not now. She only had been here a few days and he was still on her mind as if she was back in Osaka, ready to see him sometime soon.

The blond-haired boy merely saw her saddened expression and took the hint that it was best to leave it at that. He would ask again, he definitely would, but he would leave her be for now.

"There you two are!" Sakura said, her hands on her hips. "What are you guys doing alone together on the roof?"

Hikari and Naruto's eyes were on her, "Just eating lunch." Hikari answered, "Naruto found me up here and decided to join me."

"Oh?" The pinkette was surprised, "Kiba was looking for you, Naruto."

"Oh, what for?" Naruto asked, making no intention of standing and finishing off the food in the bento.

Before Sakura would explain, she noticed Naruto was eating out of Hikari's bento. "Wait, why are you eating her lunch Naruto?"

"He forgot his lunch money and so I offered to share him my lunch." Hikari quickly answered, Naruto looking at her with a shocked expression as she then gave him a thumbs up.

The pinkette sighed, "Sorry, he's so forgetful."

"It's no big deal. I made a big lunch anyway." said Hikari, who smiled soon after.

Sakura merely gave Naruto a skeptical look, "All right, but it doesn't matter what Kiba wanted. I'll just tell him you're busy. See you guys later." The girl waved as they both watched her walk through the entrance door and down the steps.

_**- / - / -**_

"So, did you hear?" Ino said as they all stood in the locker room of the gym. "Naruto ate lunch with a girl today."

Hikari sighed, knowing the blond-haired girl was merely teasing her. Tenten, the girl was two bunds, had lifted her shirt halfway and gave Ino a surprised look. "With who?"

Hinata, who was standing at her locker, had looked at Ino. Even though she tried to pretend she wasn't curious, it was obvious that she was.

The auburn-haired girl had looked over towards Ino and Tenten, "We're just friends, all right."

Ino grinned from ear to ear, "Right. Naruto doesn't really hang with girls like that, so you must be special."

"We just met like two days ago, Ino. Besides, he hangs with Sakura all the time." She pointed out.

Sakura nodded her head, "True and we're just friends."

The blue-eyed girl merely pouted her lip, "Thanks for ruining my fun."

"Ruining your fun?" Hikari rolled her eyes playfully, "Someone else would hear and then it'll turn into a rumor. I don't want that spreading around."

"Fine, fine." Ino raised her hands, "You win."

Tenten the placed her shirt over her head and then leaned her back against the locker, "Why did they allow Gai-sensei to be a teacher? He puts us through hell."

"But he keeps our figures looking good," said Ino with a thumb up, "I don't even have to worry about taking a day to exercise since he works us all day here."

Hikari then looked at Sakura, "Is she serious?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yeah, Gai-sensei is pretty… Crazy." The pink-haired girl then tilted her head back, "I don't even think crazy is a good enough word."

"Yeah, it isn't." Tenten then threw her hands in the air, "The man is insane!"

Hikari blinked a few times and then sighed, "I'll take your word for it."

"He acts like we're machines and that we can just do all these crazy laps like we're not going to get tired. He's insane, I tell you." Tenten went on, obviously enraged.

The girl seemed so passionate in her irritation that she just went off, Hikari and Sakura both looked each other and then back at the brunette who was still going. "Uh, Tenten. We needs to get to the gym."

The girl then stopped mid-sentence and then sighed, "Right."

All of them, now dressed in their uniforms, had made their way out of the locker room and to the hall that lead them to the gymnasium. A man with shiny, black hair and black eyes had approached them. "We're going to be doing gym outside today which means we'll be doing laps!"

Hikari could hear a bunch of the girls groaning, which meant that this wasn't good at all. "Where are the boys, Gai-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Their already outside. You girls were a little late coming in here, but since this is a first I'll let it slide, oh-keh!" The man gave them a thumbs up and Hikari could've sworn he saw his pearly whites sparkle.

They all followed him outside to see the boys stretching, getting ready for running. Naruto had given Hikari a wave and she had waved back, only to have Sakura grab onto her arm. "Oh no, here comes Lee."

The girl next to her seemed confused, "What do you me-" Before she could even ask, Lee came over.

That's when she noticed Lee and Gai looked like they could be father and son, but more importantly that wasn't what shocked her right now. "Sakura!" The boy said her name with such enthusiasm, "You and I should run next to each other."

Run next to each other? Did this guy… really like Sakura?" Hikari looked back at Sakura who gave an uneasy smile. "Sorry Lee, but I'm going to be running with the girls an-"

"But in order to fulfill the needs of youth, you need to run with someone who is a worthy comrade an-" Sakura had fled, her and Ino running down the field.

"Now that's the spirit!" Gai let out a hearty laugh, "Everyone, you should follow those girls for example. They are filled with the need to exercise and to maintain their youth."

Youth, what was is with these two and that word? Hikari merely sighed and scratched the back of her head, just what was with these people? "You'll get use to it."

Hikari then looked to her left to see a boy with long, straight brown hair. His eyes were a shade of grey, "He's one of hell of a teacher but he means well or that's what I like to think."

"You're Neji, right?" She remembered his name from roll call earlier.

The boy then looked at her, "That's right." He answered, not making any significance of saying more.

The girl merely felt uncomfortable, seeing as though she wished she had more to say. "Nice to meet you, classmate." She said as Naruto then came over to their group, Sasuke not to far behind.

"Hikari, making more friends?" The blond said eagerly, almost proud that she spoke to others.

Hikari looked at Neji from the corner of her eyes, but he wasn't looking her way. "Uh, I think?" Was her reply. "He just told me not to be so hard on Gai-sensei." She explained, "We should be running before he notices."

"She has a point." Neji said as Hikari then squeezed through the space between Naruto and Sasuke.

She didn't know what to say, but she didn't want to upset Gai and so she began to jog. She felt too awkward in that circle; she was never one to really know how to make a good first impression. She never knew how she made friends in the first place, but she always seemed to reel people in somehow.

It always felt good to run, especially with the sun soaking in her skin. She used to love running, feeling the wind and the sun on her skin. Maybe Naruto was right, maybe she should join track and field again.

As she ran, she thought about the purpose of why she joined track and field. What was her purpose? Was it solely Arata? He was the one to convince her to join it anyway and he was the one who told her that she would be great. Was the really it? No, that wasn't it. It was because thought she would be great but it was because she wanted him to see her for more than what she was.

Yes, that was her purpose. For Arata to see that she wasn't just Hikari and that there was more to her. She didn't want him to see her the way that he always did.

"_You're a natural, Hikari!" A boy said, he was tall and a mop of jet, black hair and oceanic blue eyes. His smile was warm, "I knew you would excel in this."_

"_Yeah, yeah." Hikari said with a smile, "You were right." She said as she then picked up the pace, "Looks like I can out run you, Arata!"_

"_H-Hey! Come back!" The boy said as he tried to run, but Hikari was far faster than him. She turned to ook back, her tongue sticking out at him as she continued on. He grew farther and farther back. _

'_Now you can watch me, Arata. It's not going to be me watching you anymore.'_

"Hikari?" The hazel eyes of the girl had soon widened, now snapping out of the memory. She skidded to a halt and nearly fell forward, only to be caught. "Hikari, are you okay?"

The girl looked up to see that it was Sasuke who caught her, but it was Naruto who was expressing his concern. "Thanks." Hikari told Sasuke who merely looked away.

"You would've been in my way had you fell." Sasuke had said causing Hikari to narrow her eyes at him. She wasn't sure if he said that just to not look like he cared or because he was genuinely mean and arrogant like that.

Instead of saying something back, she looked at Naruto. "You seemed out of it."

The girl then rubbed the back of her head, "I'm sorry. I was just… in the zone as they say." Hikari laughed nervously, "I haven't ran like this in so long that it felt good."

"So are you going to be joining track and field?" He asked with a smile.

"I'm still thinking about it." She answered and then waved, "If you excuse me, I'm going to finish my laps." She wave and then high-tailed off.

Sasuke let out a hmph, "She seems troublesome just like you."

Naruto looked at his friend, "What do you mean?"

"She's carrying something." He said, his hands now in his pockets. "Why are you always taken injured castle and trying to save them?"

"She's not a cow, Sasuke." Naruto defended her, "Why do you always see people as troublesome?"

The dark-haired boy narrowed his eyes, "Because they are, Naruto."

"Like you're so perfect yourself." The blond replied back, "You never give new people a chance."

"A chance? Like she had the option of having one in the first place." His friend replied, "She's less loud and talkative than Sakura, but that doesn't mean I'll be so accepting of her."

"Why? Is it because she's not falling at your feet? Your so used to girls liking you that you can't handle a girl not showing interest. " Naruto smirked.

Sasuke merely gave his friend a deadpanned expression, "I'm actually glad she's not one of those fan girls. They are annoying." He replied, "I'm not going to keep arguing."

"You're the one who started it!" Naruto pointed at him, disbelief in his voice.

"What are you two fighting over now?" Sakura asked, her hands on her hips.

Naruto and Sakura both looked in her direction, "He started!" Naruto said, his finger still pointing at Sasuke.

The girl sighed, "Naruto, why don't you just leave Sasuke alone then?"

"She has a valid point." Sasuke smirked as Naruto grew more agitated.

"Whatever!" Naruto said before storming off.

_**- / - / -**_

It was the end of the school day and Hikari was at her shoelocker. She was glad that the day was over and that at gym they had showered, she never ran that much in a long time that she knew she was beyond sweaty. Once she placed on her brown loafers, she had walked towards the doors and began walking.

She was going to wait for Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke but she hadn't seen them around. It was almost a surprise when she saw Sakura waving at her at the gate. Hikari ran a bit to shorten the distance, "Where is Naruto and Sasuke?" Hikari finally asked.

"Oh, they are both in the soccer team so they stay after school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's." Sakura explained as the two began on their walk home.

Hikari then nodded, "I didn't expect that."

"For them to be on the soccer team?" She asked as Hikari nodded, "Yeah, but they are both the star players of the team other than Lee and Kiba. All four of them are the best, but Naruto and Sasuke seemed to shine the most."

"I take it that Sasuke is pretty popular among the girls, huh?" The auburn-haired girl asked as the pinkette nodded.

"He's always been popular since elementary school. I guess that's the curse of being good looking." Sakura said, shrugging somewhat.

The tan girl looked at her, "Well, you should know since you like him too."

The green-eyed girl's face had blushed fifty different shades of red. "W-What gave you that idea?!"

"Sakura, please. Its written all over you face." Hikari smiled, seeing the girl sigh in defeat.

"Yeah, but it seems that Sasuke doesn't seem interested in anyone or anything." Sakura said, looking at the sidewalk. "I mean, I confessed to him before but he flat out rejected me. And its not just me, but many other girls. He's not interested in guys, that's as much as I know. He just wants to be… alone."

What could Hikari say? It was odd, but she had knew many other guys like that as well as girls. "Maybe Sasuke isn't interested in dating right now, some people choose to wait until college or later on in life." It was probably the worse conclusion, but it did have some valid points. "Maybe he feels relationships are a distraction."

"Maybe but… its hard, y'know." Sakura sighed and kicked a small rock. "I kept telling myself that I need to stop liking him and that he's not worth it, but.-"

"But no matter how much you tell your heart that, it clings onto those feelings. I know." Hikari looked up at the sky, Sakura looking at her in surprise.

Hikari closed her eyes halfway, "I've been there before. The road is hard and a long one, but we all get through."

Sakura smiled at her, "Thanks."

"Thanks? I didn't give you much advice." Hikari said, now looking at the green-eyed girl.

"But its nice to know that I'm not the only one." Sakura looked away and then at the path ahead. "Anyway, what are you doing Friday?"

"Friday?" Hikari repeated and then went into thought, "I don't think I'm doing anything."

The pinkette smiled, "Good! Because all of us are going to Karaoke!"

Hikari stopped walking, a deadpanned expression on her face. "K-Karaoke?"

"Yeah and you have to come!" Sakura said, "Besides, it would be a good way to have fun and make more friends." Her friend explained.

It didn't sound like she had much of a choice or be able to say no or even hide. "I see." It was the only thing she could say.

Once they made it to their homes, her and Sakura bid each other goodbyes before separating and walking towards their homes. Once Hikari had opened the door and slips off her shoes and placed them on the rack, she immediately went towards the kitchen. "'Kaa-san, I'm home."

The woman smiled at her as she was in the kitchen preparing dinner, "How was you first day?"

"It was… a little weird, but all right." Hikari answered before going upstairs and down the hall and towards her room. She threw her randoseru on the bed and loosed her necktie before flopping on her large, pink bed. "Today was a long day." She said as she felt her cellphone ring. She immediately rummaged through her bag and pulled out her iPhone with the panda casing on it. She had a text message from… "Why him?" She mumbled. She deleted the message with a few keystrokes and then pulled her stuffed bear close to her form. _'I just want to forget everything about him…'_

* * *

How was it? This is my first Naruto story and I always wanted to do a Highschool one since I read so many good ones.

**Hikari:** _Feminine form of Japanese unisex Hikaru, meaning "radiance; light."_

**Few Facts/Info:**

Randoseru is a Japanese briefcase book bag.

Hajimemashi means nice to meet you.

Since Hikari is from Osaka, she has a country accent and instead of Okaa-san and Otou-san, she says 'Kaa and Tou.


	2. Chapter 2

**ioDisclaimer**: I do not own Naurto or its characters

**Pointers**: _'italics'_ means that the character is thinking

**Summary**: Hikari just transferred to Senju Academy in a town called Konohagakure in Kyoto. She wants to leave behind her past life and start a new one in a new city. Everything seems to be going fine until she finds her heartstrings being pulled again. Pairings undecided.

**Author's Note: **_'Thinking'_ and_ '_**Text/Notes'**

* * *

**Chapter Two:**

_Strong and Standing_

* * *

Hikari had stared out the window as Kakashi had gone on with his lecture. It was Tuesday, her second day of school and it had already felt like a routine. Well, that was school for you. Even when it's a new one, it still feels the same. They had all walked to school together; they being herself, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. The Uchiha was even more distant than he already was, she must've angered him yesterday during gym and that's why he gave her a stronger form of the cold shoulder. She wasn't sure if she scared or not, but it made things awkward in her eyes even though Naruto and Sakura seemed to not notice it or react to it as much. She had given Naruto his bento before class, just to make sure nobody would notice that she had given it to him. She didn't want rumors to fly like last time, neither one of them had to explain the reason why she was making him lunch now.

It was raining today which made things slower, tiresome, and dreary. And when it rained nowadays, it usually depressed her and she couldn't find the will to want to be happy or even act like she was enjoyed. What sucked even more was that she wouldn't be able to eat on the roof today; she would just have to stick to the classroom. "And now, we'll have a test next Wednesday. Its not a lengthy one, but a short quiz." Kakashi announced, most people groaned and sucked their teeth. Hikari had looked over at Naruto who sighed.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura raised her hand as the man turned to look at her, giving her his attention. "This test will just be on Kyūsekki jidai and the Jomon period, right?"

"It will just be on Kyūsekki jidai, Sakura." The teacher answered as the pinkette nodded and scribbled something down in her notebook.

"But before the quiz day, we'll be doing a review. Since it seems like everyone is not even prepared for it." The man sighed, "Anyway, back to the lesson."

Hikari had listened onto the lecture, not really paying attention since she had heard all of this before. Naruto was barely keeping his eyes open, Ino and Sakura being studious were writing and listen, and surprising so were a lot of the others. Maybe it was because it was the second day of the first semester and so they had gotten into the school swing of things.

Shen then saw a note fly on her desk, she thought it was Naruto but the boy was half asleep. Pulling the folded sheet of paper toward her, she had opened it and read it:

**'You really should be paying attention instead of watching the others.'**

Hikari narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out who would write her something like that. The girl then turned to look at Sasuke who was giving her a hard, cold stare. Was he the one who wrote her the note?

**'I know this stuff, remember? I was the one who answered the first question on the first day.'**

With a triumphant hmph, she placed the note back on Sasuke's desk and played it off as if she was reaching in her backpack. Kakashi paid no mind and so she was able to get away with it. Of course, who would expect Sasuke to be passing notes to her or to anyone? It had taken a few minutes to get a reply from him, the note at her left elbow. She unfolded the paper and read it:

**'You think that's a good excuse? You're talking to the number #1 student in this grade and second in the entire school. I suggest you take those notes, you'll never catch up.'**

The girl narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth. What the hell was with him? She wanted to glare at him so badly but she couldn't. So instead, she had written a quick reply:

**'Watch me.'**

And with a smirk and hearing him 'hmph' as a reply, things were already set. Her and Sasuke would be intellectual rivals, battling academically to see who is the best. She wasn't sure if this was his form of making a friendship, but she could conclude that this would be fun.

_**- / - / -**_

Lunch had arrived and Hikari had no choice but to stay at her desk since she couldn't think of a good place to have lunch. It didn't matter if she did anyway since Naruto, Sakura, Ino had made it clear they wanted lunch together. Naruto had pulled out his bento, smiling from ear to ear as Sakura and Ino looked at it in awe. "Oh wow, Naruto! Did you make that?" Sakura said, completely surprised.

"You have a girlfriend making you your lunches? There's no way Uzumaki made that!" Ino pointed out, which made Naruto laugh nervously.

There was no way he could pass it off as his own but there was no way he could tell who made it either. The lunch was a burger with stuffed green olives, steamed fingerlings potatoes with a sauce cup of sour cream, and black berries on the side. She wasn't sure if he would like it, but from his words she guessed he did. "This burger is the best!" Naruto said enthusiastically, inching away from the girl's questioning.

Both Ino and Sakura gave each other a confused look. Hikari opened the lid off her bento and all four members of the group had looked over, "Oh wow, that's so cute!" Sakura squealed.

Hikari had her food shaped like a bunny. It was a sandwich with carrot pieces used for the nose and mouth and tomato skin for the eyes. The ears were made from bread and strawberry jam, a baby carrot on the side with broccoli to play off the leafy top of a carrot, there was a flower made of ham above the bunny's head and between its ears, and lettuce all the way around with corn stuffed tomatoes and some edomae with flags. Overall, it was a pretty cute lunch.

Ino and Sakura both looked at their lunches, which was plain and made by them. "I never knew you were such a good cook, Hikari." Ino said, feeling a bit defeated.

The auburn-haired girl shrugged her shoulders, "I help my mother make dinner and such so… I've been cooking since I was five."

"But way to show it off." Ino replied, a pout forming on her face.

The girl looked at them curiously and then at her lunch, "Maybe I… I did do too much." She second guessed. Sasuke had looked her lunch and then took a piece of ham that made the petals of the flowers. "Hey!" He didn't say anything but kept his eyes closed, chewing it. He didn't even say a word as Naruto gave Sasuke a somewhat glare and then looked back at Hikari's bento, he stole a ham was well and then Ino and Sakura did the same. "You guys!" Hikari pouted as the others, besides Sasuke, laughed.

Soon enough, due to their little commotion Choji, Shikamaru, and Kiba came over. "Looks like you guys are having fun." Shikamaru noted.

The hazel-eyed girl looked at him curiously, "I'm not. They are stealing my lunch." She pointed out.

"Sounds like something Naruto would do. Hey, is that a bunny? Ha, that's pretty cool." Kiba pointed out. "Mind if I try?"

Why did everyone want her lunch? It wasn't like she was some famous chef. At least he asked though, "Sure."

The boy went for a piece of the ham and chewed, "Hm. This is pretty good." Kiba said with af full mouth.

Choji looked at Kiba enviously, "Can I get some too?"

Was she going to have anything left? Hikari wanted to sigh, but she held it in. "Go ahead, Choji."

The boy smiled and did a little chuckle of victory before picking up two pieces of ham and a stick of edomane. The girl couldn't believe he didn't take at least one thing. He began eating away, making no intention to stop and get a breather. "Hey Sai!" Sakura waved at the pale boy, who was smiling due to her recognition. "You should try this."

In an anime-esque, three pans dropped on Hikari's head at Sakura's words. She wasn't a buffet! At least she had her sandwich. Sai had walked over and looked at the auburn-haired girl, "May I?" He asked.

Hikari merely waved her hand as if she gave him permission. He then picked up a tomato filled with corn and began to eat, a smile on his face. "Wow, this is 10x's better than the food Sakura makes."

The pinkette snarled, "What did you say?"

"Oh, I said that this is better than your food." Sai repeated what he said originally. Normally, after seeing that person get angry at your previous words it would be wise to change it or clean it up, but Sai did not fear Sakura as Naruto did.

Hikari picked up her sandwich and began to eat, she wasn't sharing this but she didn't care about anything else. "Are you going to finish the rest of that?" Choji asked.

The girl's eyes looked at him and then back at the bento. "I don't care about the rest." For some reason, the outcome of that wasn't what she expected both Kiba and Choji fought over the bento with Naruto and Sai trying to squeeze their way in.

"You guys are acting like wild animals!" Ten-Ten said, trying to break them up. "What are they even fighting over?" The brunette looked over towards the girls.

"My leftovers." Hikari put it simply, "I made a big lunch and they liked some of the food I cooked and now they want it." She then took another bite of her sandwich and looked out the window, ignoring the whole fight like it was nothing.

Tenten sighed and rubbed her temples until it seemed like Kiba had won the tussle for the food. "It's mine!"

Choji and Naruto sighed of defeat, "But I was the one who asked for it first!" Choji whined.

"But you lost," Kiba picked up the strawberry jam bread and began to eat away. Naruto continued on with his own lunch, eating one of the steamed potatoes after dipping it in the sourcream.

Sasuke couldn't fathom how anyone could even fight over food, especially as well fed as they all were specifically Choji. "Please, can you guys stop fighting over the bento? Kiba won, that's it." Sakura said, finally tired of the constant bickering.

Choji pouted as Kiba walked away with a triumphant smirk and went back to his desk. Choji had gone back to his with his head down. Shikamaru sighed, "Sorry about that. Choji is a glutton and hates to lose at that."

"It's all right." Hikari did a slight smile, she didn't want any apologies. What happened, happened.

"Oh, Hikari." Ino the said, turning to look at her, "Are you coming with us Friday?"

"Friday?" Hikari repeated, confused and then suddenly she remember. "Oh, you mean to the Karaoke thing? Uh, yeah."

The blond-haired girl smile, "Awesome! You're going to have so much fun. Most of the class is coming with us and so we rented a large room."

"Shouldn't I help pitch in too? I mean I can't go for free-"

"We already had it covered before you moved." Ino explained, Hikari still feeling a bit uneasy. She felt like she had to do something, it just didn't feel right. "Don't worry about it, all right? We'll have fun!"

Naruto gave her a cheerful smile in which caused her to give up on doing something for them. She gave Ino a nod, "Okay."

"Can you sing, Hikari?" Naruto asked.

The girl shook her head, "Not really." Her singing basically sounded like talking, she never tried to sing and didn't do Karaoke that much in Osaka that she could hardly remember when she did. Yeah, sometimes she sang around the house but she never really thought if she could sing or not, but she felt it sound like talking. Nothing extraordinary.

"Hinata is a really great singer, but since she's so shy you can hardly tell." Sakura mentioned in which Hikari had looked at Hinata who was speaking to Shino.

"I never would have guessed." Hikari replied, "But that's a great talent."

"It kind of makes her a threat doesn't it? She has a great figure, a pretty face, long straight hair, and a beautiful voice? If she wasn't so shy and faint-prone, she'd steal all the guys." Ino went on to say.

Figured Ino and Sakura would be worried about boys. Sasuke had remained nonplussed, probably dismissing the whole conversation and Naruto was too busy eating up what was left and not paying them any attention. "Well, it doesn't matter to me."

Both girls looked at her, Naruto and Sasuke paying attention as well. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't like anyone and even if I did and if they liked Hinata then that wouldn't bother me." She shrugged her shoulders, drinking some of her canned ice coffee. _'And it's because my heart still is attached to someone else.'_ She thought as she placed the can down and got a breather.

"It figures you don't like anyone yet. You just came here yesterday." Ino then tilted her head back, "But there are plenty of hot guys in the school and the guys in our class are pretty hot."

Sakura had shyly looked at Sasuke, Ino's eyes on him as well. Yeah, she could agree that Sasuke was 'hot' but his personality wasn't. Hikari lifted her shoulders in a shrug again, "I guess." She could say Kiba and Neji were also good looking, Shikamaru had his own charm and so did Shino and Sai. Choji would actually have been good looking had he lost some weight or stop being so much of a glutton. And Lee, well….He was Lee.

"That's all you girls worry about. Boys, boys, boys." Naruto said, "Why can't you think about something else?"

The auburn-haired girl looked at Naruto, a smile on her face. "I'm not even worried about boys and I'm pretty sure you have a crush on someone yourself, Naruto." Sakura said, pointing her finger accusingly at him.

The boy had turned a shade of red, "Well, uh…"

"I knew you had a crush on someone!" Ino chimed in.

Hinata had looked over towards their direction, hearing how loud the pinkette and blond-haired girls were being and especially to something she was curious about. "No, I don't! I don't have time for crushes!" Naruto defended himself.

"Right…" Ino and Sakura rolled their eyes, "Sasuke, do you have a girl you like?" Ino asked.

The onyx-eyed boy had looked at them, "No."

His answered was short and sweet, but Hikari could tell it made Sakura's heart sting. "What about you Sai?" Ino asked in a sing-song voice.

Sai had looked at both girls, "I haven't really thought about it." He replied.

"But if you could right now, who would it be?" The blue-eyed girl dug further.

"Hm…" The boy hmmed, his eyes half closed as he thought deep into his answer. "I still do not know."

Ino hung her head as Sakura gave a short, nervous laugh. "Did you have a boyfriend back home, Hikari?" Everyone's attention went back to her.

The question had caused a stir in her heart and she wasn't sure how to go about it. "No, I didn't." She answered.

"Well, did you have a boy you liked?" Sakura asked this time, which caused Hikari to now feel completely uncomfortable.

Should she tell them or not? What could go wrong? "Yeah, I did."

Naruto had looked at her as she looked down at the floor, "Tell u-" Before Ino could go on, the bell had rung. Everyone had made their desks cleaned and then tried to get everything ready for their next class.

_**- / - / -**_

The school day was over and Hikari was putting on her shoes at her footlocker. Sakura told her that she had some things to do for Friday with Ino that she would be going home with her. Which meant she was probably stuck with Naruto and Sasuke. How awkward was this going to be?

"Hikari!" She heard Naruto's voice as he ran down the hall and walked towards her, "I'm glad you didn't leave yet." He rubbed the back of his head.

"I was waiting for you." She said as she adjusted her umbrella, "Why?"

The boy looked around and then placed his hands in his pocket, "I forgot my umbrella at home."

Hikari set her jaw, but not because she was angry at Naruto but because a memory flooded her mind. _'You can share my umbrella, Arata. Let's walk home together.'_ Hikari shook her head, "Its okay, we can share mine. Where's Sasuke?"

"Probably in the library. Sometimes when I don't see him here, he's there. You want to go get him?" Hikari shook her head.

"No," She replied, "let's go." She walked first to the door and opened the panda umbrella. It had two black ears atop of it with the panda's eyes closed and its tongue sticking out. Naruto then reached for the handle, "What?"

"You're short and you're gonna hit my head if we walk with you holding it." He explained as she nodded her head, understanding what he meant. They both began to walk, silence between them. Hikari wasn't sure what to talk about and Naruto still had his mind on something. "Hikari."

The girl looked up at him, both their eyes on each other. "What?"

"That guy that you liked back at home. You still like him, don't you?" Hikari eyes immediately looked away from Naruto and then ahead.

Why couldn't she have the ability to lie? It would've worked so well right now. "Yeah, I do but I don't know what for. It's a lost cause."

"Why didn't you tell him how you feel before you left? He might've felt the same." The girl smiled at his words.

"It wouldn't have mattered if he did," she closed her eyes and let out a sigh, "Someone beat me to it."

The male beside her had suddenly frowned, "Oh…"

"I walked in on a girl confessing to him and then offering to walk with him home using her umbrella since he always forgets his. I was going to tell him since it was my last day at my old school, but she got there before I did and he… He went with her." She explained.

Naruto was silent for a few minutes, "You really liked him, huh?"

Hikari smiled sadly, "I didn't just like him, Naruto." She looked up at the Uzumaki, "I loved him."

The boy understood her feelings, knowing how it felt never being able to tell someone you loved how you felt. "If it makes us even, the girl I love is Sakura."

The Kazuna appeared shocked, stopping her footsteps. So that's what she couldn't read in his eyes. "You never told her how you felt…"

"What's the point? She's in love with Sasuke and has been since we were five." He kicked a small rock, "All what will happen is that she'll reject me and even though I know it, I don't want to hear her say it."

The girl frowned, "Nobody wants to hear it. I guess that makes us cowards, huh?"

"Being a coward isn't a compliment," He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, "but I guess in this case that's all right."

"Love is a losing game, Naruto." Hikari had said until they reached his house.

"Don't walk me, I'm just across the street." She explained, knowing he was going to suggest it. Instead she watched as he opened his door with his key and look at her. That's when the thought hit her… What would he eat for dinner? "Naruto, you can always come over my house for dinner."

The blond-haired boy gave her a confused expression but then broke into a smile, "I'm fine Hikari."

"You can't survive on ramen alone. You need vegetables." She explained.

He stuck his tongue out, "I hate vegetables."

"I know they aren't the best but they are good for you." She went on to explain.

"I'll be fine Hikari, you should be getting home." Hikari ended up barging her way in there, closing the umbrella when she got to the front door. "H-Hey!" He said as she took off her shoes and places her umbrella closed alongside the shoerack.

The auburn-haired girl turned to look at him, "I won't be able to sleep knowing you're eating ramen for dinner, again." She explained as she pulled out her notebook and pen from her randoseru and pressed the paper against the wall and began to right down groceries. "Now run to the store and get all these things."

Naruto blinked twice and then looked at the paper, "What's all this?"

"Do you have the money for it?" She asked, "I can give you som-"

"No, I got it." He smiled and then picked up his umbrella, the one he had forgotten at home. "I'll be back." The boy said before running out the door.

* * *

It was her second day of school and she was already in a boy's home and making him dinner. Oddly enough, he was her friend and she had met him three days prior. Now that she was by herself, she decided to take a look around. She saw a lot of pictures, everywhere, especially in the living room. There was a portrait of a loving couple who had to be Naruto's parents.

He looked like his mother but had his father's eyes and hair. They were a happy looking couple and she could tell that Naruto would've loved being raised by them.

It also made her wonder how her life would've been like without her family; she probably wouldn't have been so strong. She then picked up a picture and it was Kindergarten Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Naruto was looking away with his arms folded, Sakura was smiling at the camera, and Sasuke had his hands in his pocket with an annoyed look and his eyes away.

It made her laugh because she could imagine them all doing it now like nothing had changed. It felt odd coming into a group of friends who knew each other for so long and look how things were? Naruto loved Sakura but she loved Sasuke who loved only himself in Hikari's eyes.

She placed the photo down and sat on the couch, her hands folded in her lap. Why was she going out of her way for Naruto again? Was it solely because she was sympathetic about him not having a family or because she thought he was lonely? She couldn't put her finger on it, but it didn't matter since the door opened and Naruto came running with groceries. "Uh, so what are you making?" He asked as she stood up.

"You'll see." She said as she took the bag of groceries from him and walked towards the kitchen. There were a lot of things she could cook from the ingredients she had, she thought maybe she could make enough to make two meals one for today and tomorrow.

The blond had then followed her, sitting at the chair at the counter. "You really don't have to do all this for me." He continued on to say.

"I thought we talked about this earlier. There's nothing you can do to stop me, Naruto." Hikari answered as she began to cook, "You should take a shower. You smell like rain."

The boy gave her a deadpanned expression, "Fine." He hopped out of the chair and walked off, Hikari chuckled as she remembered his expression and went onto work.

It took a good hour and a half when she finished, placing the plate in front of Naruto as he had hungry eyes. She had cooked him some Tonkatsu with shredded cabbage on the side, she gave him meat and something healthy but she knew he would put up some type of a fight. "Eat the cabbage, Naruto. I seasoned It enough that you can't even tell."

A skeptical look was on his face, unsure of whether to believe her or not. "All right… Here it goes," He picked up some of the shredded cabbage with his chopsticks and to his surprise, it tasted like seasoned noodles. "Are you sure this is cabbage?"

"It's cabbage." She gave him a smile as he went on to eat, "Well, I have to get going home before my parents start to worry and I don't want to tell them I'm over a boy's house." Hikari explained as she walked to the lower floor near the front door.

Naruto had followed after her, "Thanks for all this. I mean it."

The auburn-haired girl looked at him from over her shoulder as she slipped her right shoe on her foot, "Its no big deal. Whenever you need me, I'm across the street."

"Wait!" He then said before she could touch the handle of the door, she blinked as he pulled out his phone. "You should have my number."

"I forgot about that." She said as she walked over, both of them connecting their phones to gain each other's number. "Hikki?" She repeated upon seeing her name on his contacts.

"Yeah, don't you like it as a nickname?" He asked as she shrugged.

"I never had that as a nickname, but I like it." She gave him a smile, "I'll see you tomorrow!" Once she opened the front door, she opened her umbrella and then made her way across the street.

Naruto had waited until he saw her open the door and went inside before smiling and closing his own door.

* * *

It was finally Friday and a bright and sunny day. Hikari threw her hands in the air, soaking in all its warmth as her as they were all walking to the kaoroke bar. School went how it usually did, but now at lunch people were interested on what she prepared and what Naruto had. It was becoming a real pain for Naruto to come up with excuses for his bento by now Sakura and Ino figured he had a secret girlfriend. "Today feels great!" Hikari chimed in a cheerful manner, her arms soon behind her head as she walked with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, it does." Sakura agreed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "We're going to have a lot of fun today."

Sasuke looked at them from the corner of his eyes, "What is the whole point in this event anyway?" He asked.

Hikari's eyes then went to Sakura, who began to explain. "For all of us to have fun again as friends. It's the start of the new year, but its also to make sure we're all still close. We've been in the same school since Elementary."

The auburn-haired girl couldn't help but feel, well, an outcast. Naruto grinned, "Is Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro coming?" He asked.

"Yeah," Sakura answered, "Everybody is coming!"

Hikari couldn't help but feel like turning around and running away. This was growing more and more uncomfortable. "Tch," Everyone turned to look at Sasuke, "how bothersome."

"But you're coming, right Sasuke?" Naruto nudged the boy's side.

"If I don't, you'll annoy me about it. Do I have a choice?" Sakura frowned as Naruto rolled his eyes.

The hazel-eyed girl then cleared her throat, "I don't think I should go." Naruto and Sakura stopped walking and turned to look at her. Both of them looked disappointed and sad, which made her feel guilty.

Oh God, the truth was going to spill… She could feel it. "It's not that I think that I can't go, but…" She tried to find a good excuse, "But, I… uh…"

Sasuke then walked over to her, "Just spit it out."

She glared at him, her eyes storming up with annoyance which only caused him to smirk at her reaction. "Its just that I feel uncomfortable. All of you guys have been friends since elementary and you just met me a couple of days ago. I know we've grown to know each other and things like that, but that sounds like a party for you guys."

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other, "But you're our friend now, so it's only necessary that you go."

"But these are people you've known for like a decade and longer." Hikari sighed, "I'll feel like an outsider."

Naruto and Sakura had understood her feelings in which they should've put into consideration. "But you have to come!" Sakura went on to say.

She felt bad for trying to fight to not go, what did she look like? Hikari bit down on her bottom lip, "Okay, I'll go still. I just… I just don't want to feel like an outsider."

"You won't. Besides, mostly everyone is our classmates except a few others. You'll be fine!" Hikari gave Naruto an anxious smile and decided that she would believe them.

When they reached the tall, Karaoke building they had all went inside. There was a table of food set up and some people were already there. There was a boy with red hair and a tattoo that said 'love' on his forehead. He was sitting next to a dark, blonde hair female and boy with a black hoodie. She didn't pay too much attention to them, because she felt an arm around her shoulder. She looked to see that was Ino, a grin on her face. "Since you're new, Hikari, you'll be going first."

"First?" Hikari's eyes widened, "B-But why?!"

"That's the rule!" Sakura added, "The new people go first."

Naruto grinned, "You'll do fine."

The auburn-haired female looked around as the room was becoming packed, all their classmates there. Just why did they have to put her first? This rule was cruel in her eyes. Letting out a sigh, she knew she couldn't fight it.

"Fine." Hikari said as Ino and Sakura both clapped their hands. Ino ran up to the small stage, "Oh God, is she going to introduce me?"

"Yup." Sakura answered, "It's like a mini talent show. Sometimes whoever does the best wins a prize."

Hikari's palm slapped her forehead, she could feel her confidence dwindling and dwindling. "Listen up, everyone! This party is going to start with our first singer! She's new to the school! Give it up for Kazuna, Hikari!"

Most people clapped and cheered, the spotlight now on the teen as she wanted to crawl in a hole. Somehow, her feet led her to the stage. "Now, we're doing American and K-pop. We did our J-rock and J-pop last time. Do you know any?"

"Uh, yeah." Hikari was a fan of American music and some K-pop, she had her favorites. Ino then handed her the microphone and got off the stage, Hikari stood there and looked at the microphone.

It appears she didn't have the choice of selecting a song. The Karaoke machine did, her eyes went to the tv screen next to her. Her eyes widened at the song that was playing, why this song? "All the single ladies. All the singles ladies." Her voice was as she said it, a light version of talking.

To most, she sang pretty okay even though she really didn't seem too enthused.

"She's actually pretty good." Sakura commented, "I bet once she gets use to this whole thing she'll be dancing and everything."

Ino chuckled, "That'll be a show."

"If you liked it then you should've put a ring on it. Don't be mad when you see that he want 'cause if you liked then you should've put a ring on it. Woh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh~" Now getting into the song, Hikari swayed her hips and did the Beyoncé hand motion with her free hand.

"Looks like that happened sooner than we thought." Sakura said, surprised.

Everyone was clapping along with the rhythm as to their surprise; Hikari went into full-singing mode. When the song finally came to an end, Hikari had her hand in the air, her head tilted back with her eyes closed. Everyone cheered as she raised her head and smiled, rubbing the back of her head with her free hand. She didn't expect for her to fully get into the song.

Sakura then came up to the stage and grabbed a mic, "That was awesome, Hikari!"

"Uh…. That was nothing." The girl shyly put her head down and looked away, not wanting to actually remember she just went full out on a song.

"No, it was amazing!" Sakura cheered, "It's gonna be tough to be that. Next up is InoShikaCho!"

"I thought I told you guys I wasn't doing this." Shikamaru could be heard saying as Ino was dragging him towards the stage. "Ino, I don't want to do this."

"Oh come on, Shikamaru. We're gonna have fun!" The blond female said, her blue eyes smiling along with her lips.

Choji, meanwhile, was eating a plate of Karrage. "I don't think it would be so bad, Shikamaru. Its just one song."

The pony-tailed hair boy let out a groan as Ino finally got him to the stage. Each of them had a microphone in their hands. Shikamaru looked displeased, Choji with his usual smile, and Ino the hyper one. "All right! Give us something good Karaoke machine!"

All three of them turned to the tv screen, "This is our favorite song, Choji!"

"Because I'm naughty, naughty! Hey! I'm Mr. Simple!" Choji and Ino sang in an unison, Shikamaru groaning most of it.

Hikari had walked over to the food table and was eying food. She then got a plate full of noodles, just to notice that someone else was reaching for the large, serving chopsticks. "Oh, excuse me." She said before looking at the person next to her. "Oh, Neji." She said upon seeing his face.

He stood there for a few seconds, "No, go ahead." He said as she nodded and picked up the chopsticks and started placing noodles on her plate. "You did a good job up there."

Hikari finally gotten enough and then smiled at him. "Thanks, singing isn't really my thing but it felt nice to let loose."

"Really? I couldn't tell. You sounded good." He complimented in which caused the girl to blush slightly.

"I heard your cousin, Hinata, is really good. I bet I wouldn't sound anything in comparison to her." The Hyuga boy looked at her and then looked at his cousin not too far away, who was watching the performance.

"She really does have a beautiful voice. Still, she rarely performs and the only time she does is when it's a few of us. I doubt she'll be doing a performance today." Neji went on to say as he looked away from his cousin and back at Hikari.

"I was really looking forward to it." The auburn-haired girl frowned, a bit disappointed. She wanted to hear the girl sing, but it looked like that wasn't happening today.

Once Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji had finished their song everyone clapped as they left the stage. Sakura soon ran up there, "Naruto, are you going to perform today?"

"Uh…." He gave an uneasy smile, rubbing the back of his head.

Hikari then walked over to him, elbowing his side. "Go ahead, have some fun." She told him, wanting to see him perform.

He looked at her and then at Sakura, "All right."

Hikari had sat down at his seat, beginning to eat her noodles. Her hazel eyes remained on the stage as Sakura handed the blond the mic and then got off stage.

Naruto had looked at everyone and then at the tv screen and then into the crowd. Hikari tried to follow Naruto's gaze and had noticed it was at Sakura, who was laughing at a joke Ino had told her. "I hate that you don't understand me. I hate all this waiting. Let go of his hand, break it off with him. When you're sad, I feel like I'm dying." He sang and for some reason, Hikari was surprised at his singing voice. She couldn't imagine, Naruto could actually sing. "That XX, what does he have that I don't? Why can't I have you? That XX doesn't love you. How much longer are you going to cry yourself silly?"

Hikari's eyes then went towards Sakura, who was blindly clapping along with Naruto song. Nobody else could see who he was singing this song for? Her hazel eyes glanced around the room, wondering if everyone was blind but then again, wouldn't she be if he hadn't told her?

In fact, she felt somewhat strange. He was literally singing his pain, "When you speak of him, you look so happy. It's good that you can be this happy, I'm happy. You say you really love him, want to be with him forever. You trust him completely; I don't know what to say no more. Your friends all know that guy. It's obvious, why you can't see. It's you. They save love is blind, oh baby, you're so blind. Please, I beg you, break it off."

"The amount of tears you've cried. I want to make you happy by the same amount, baby. Rather than going through the pain alone, share some with me. Please look at me, why can't you realize that I am your love? Why are you the only one who doesn't know?"

Hikari's frown deepened as she looked over to Sasuke, who had his eyes closed and drinking from a plastic cup. Did Sasuke know? He had to have known.

When the song came to an end, Naruto had this rather strange expression before it went away. For a brief moment, she could've sworn that he was angry. However, everyone was clapping and enjoying his performance.

The auburn-haired teen clapped her hands along with everyone else, acting like she didn't see what was happening. If it was best if she left it alone and maybe, maybe Naruto needed to sing that off his chest.

When he got off the stage and went over to her, taking a seat next to her she gave him a cheerful smile. "Never in a million years would I guess Uzumaki, Naruto was a singer."

"That's because you've known me a little less than a week." He nudged her, causing her to chuckle. It was true; maybe she shouldn't assume things so early on.

"But you were great up there. Never would've guessed you were a good singer and on the rap part, you did good." She complimented, wanting to make sure he didn't dwell on the girl he sang about.

Taking her plate out from under her nose, he gave her a grin. "I was really nervous about that, couldn't you tell?"

"No, not at-" She felt her hands empty, she blinked twice and then looked down. "Seriously? You were so lazy that you couldn't get up and get your own plate?!" Her bottom lip poked out as he began to eat her noodles. "I just got that plate!"

"You snooze, you lose." He stuck his tongue out as she continued to pout, but she let it slide for now.

Sakura had walked over to them, "You were great, Naruto!" The pink-haired teen said to her friend.

It felt so awkward. She could feel a strange tension in the air, but Sakura was just oblivious to it all. "Oh, uh, thanks." The boy finally said with a mouth full of noodles.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" The girl said with her arms akimbo, her green eyes narrowing in a friendly glare.

Hikari just gave Sakura a smile, "Are you going to perform?"

"Uh, me? Well, I don't know." She said as she looked up at the ceiling, "I'm not much of a singer."

To be honest even if Sakura wasn't a singer, she had the look and personality of a good singer. She could definitely pull off some of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's styles and songs but that was Hikari's opinion. "Haruno, Sakura! Don't think you're getting away with not singing anything!"

"Looks like you spoke to soon, Hikki." Naruto said as Hikari chuckled.

Sakura then gave Naruto a curious expression, "Hikki?"

"It's a nickname he made up for me." Hikari explained, not wanting to go in lengthy details.

"Sakura!" Ino yelled on the mic, causing people to wince. "Get your butt up here!"

"Looks like I have to perform." The girl sighed, going up to the stage and then grabbing the mic from Ino's hand. Her green pupils looked towards the tv screen to see the lyrics of the random song selected. "Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago. I was in your sights, you got me alone. You found me, you found me, you found me. I guess you didn't care and I guess I liked that. And when I fell hard, you took a step back without me, without me, without me. And he's long gone, when he's next to me and I realize the blame is on me."

Well, this was awkward yet again. Hikari and Naruto looked at each other and then tried to steal glance at Sasuke. He had his eyes closed, remaining nonplussed. There was little conversation between him and a red-haired girl that Ino said was Karin. "'Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in. So shame on me now, flew me to places I'd never been till you put me down, oh. I knew you were trouble when walked in. So shame on me now, flew me to places I'd never been…"

"Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground. Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble. Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble." Sakura continued to sing, pretended like the song had no relevance to her situation with Sasuke.

Why was everyone so strong? Hikari didn't know whether to question it, be afraid of it, or be proud that they were able to sing without breaking down. At least she had a song that didn't match her troubles, she probably would've have been able to keep her composure.

Hikari could tell that Naruto was jealous, the corner of his lips somewhat downward and his blue-eyes having this fiery blaze that was trying to be cooled by his kindness "Naruto, you all right?" She finally asked, wanting to comfort her newfound friend.

As quickly as it came, it was gone. His eyes widened as he got out of his thoughts, now paying attention to reality. He looked at her with a questionable gaze and then a smile, "What? I'm fine." His voice although calm, had an inner struggle.

"Of course." She replied, looking away from him. A night of fun had certainly turned to a night of tension.

_**- / - / -**_

Once the party was over, everyone had left in their usual groups. Some people having to take the bus, others a train or two, and others a long walk. Hikari, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto were the ones having to take a long walk.

Everyone was acting like their usual selves, Sakura and Naruto talking about a joke or something that happened previously while her and Sasuke were silent. Hikari had looked at Sasuke, who poked in and out of the conversations and kept his hands sheathed in his pockets.

"That was funny! I couldn't believe Lee had actually dressed up for that song!" Naruto said amidst conversation, laughing as Sakura chuckled herself.

"I told you he was weird." The pinkette replied.

"Bushy-brows is actually pretty cool once you get to know him, but he is still pretty much weird. Don't you think, Sasuke?"

"Hmph." The Uchiha answered, Naruto giving the boy a deadpanned expression and Sakura gave a uneasy smile.

Hikari then decided to try something, "Sasuke, maybe next time you should sing." Everyone looked at Hikari, surprised that she had spoken directly to Sasuke. "I bet you couldn't win in a contest against me."

Sasuke had looked in her direction, "No matter what it is we're doing. You'll always lose."

"Oh yeah, then next time there is a Karaoke party or event, me and you shall have a battle!" She grinned, her finger pointing at him.

The dark-haired male smirked and then looked away, "Whoever loses has to be a slave for a month."

Well, she wasn't expecting that. "A slave?"

"That means making bentos and doing whatever that person asks without question. Are you chicken?" The girl narrowed her eyes and then looked away, not liking the stakes. "Fine." The girl outstretched her pink, ready to swear on it but Sasuke didn't even attempt to do a pinky promise. "Does it look like I would break the promise?"

"Oh… no." She blushed, seeing how childish the act was.

They all continued to walk until they were at Sasuke's front gate. "See ya, Sasuke!" Naruto said with a wave, Sakura giving him a smile and wave as well.

"Abayo." Hikari said, Sasuke gave a slight wave to them all as it was Sakura, Naruto, and Hikari walking down the path.

"We should plan another event." Sakura sparked up a conversation, "Even though next month, our school has a small camping trip."

"Camping trip?" Hikari repeated, "What for?"

"I don't really know why. I should ask Ino, she knows everything going on around the school. Soon we have to pick a class rep" Sakura sighed, " A lot of work has to be done."

Naruto then smiled as he spoke, "You should be class rep, Sakura."

"You think so?" Sakura blinked a couple of times, "I don't know…"

"You would be a good rep. Look how you and Ino planned that party, it was great." Hikari agreed.

"Or maybe you should be class rep, Hikari. It's been a couple of days and you've gotten popular." Sakura pointed out, "You have good work ethics too."

None of that had sound so assuring to her. Naruto even seemed to agree, giving her a smile and thumbs up. "Depends on how the class feels, but I still vote for you Sakura." They soon reached the front doors of her house, "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow." She waved at them.

They both waved at her and then walked towards their homes. Hikari opened the door and walked in, letting out a sigh. "Hikari, you look like you had fun."

She looked up and her smile widened, "Takumi!" She dropped everything, quickly slid off her shoes and ran towards her brother and gave him a big hug.

"I was wondering where you were but 'Kaa-san said you went out with friends. You sure made friends fast." He said while pulling out from the hug.

"I'm just as surprised about it as you are." Hikari shrugged her shoulders, "How's the University? Still as popular as you were in Highschool?" She asked.

The auburn-haired male gave her a large grin, "I can't help that people love me."

His sister smiled at his words as she went back and got her bookbag and locked the front door. "I'm a bit tired and I should take a bath and go to bed. Let's talk tomorrow after scool, but depends on how long your staying."

"I got a week off so until next Friday, you're stuck with me." He flicked her forehead, she sighed and rubbed the area he hit.

"Lucky me." She teased before running upstairs.

* * *

How was it? This is my first Naruto story and I always wanted to do a Highschool one since I read so many good ones.

**Hikari:** _Feminine form of Japanese unisex Hikaru, meaning "radiance; light."_

**Few Facts/Info:**

Since Hikari is from Osaka, she has a country accent and instead of Okaa-san and Otou-san, she says 'Kaa and Tou.

Abayo is slang for "goodbye"

The song I used in this chapter are:

Single Ladies by Beyonce

Mr. Simple by Super Junior

That XX by G - Dragon

I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift


	3. Chapter 3

**ioDisclaimer**: I do not own Naurto or its characters

**Pointers**: _'italics'_ means that the character is thinking

**Summary**: Hikari just transferred to Senju Academy in a town called Konohagakure in Kyoto. She wants to leave behind her past life and start a new one in a new city. Everything seems to be going find until she finds her heartstrings being pulled again. Pairings undecided.

**Author's Note: **_'Thinking'_ and_ '_**Text/Notes'**

* * *

**Chapter Three:**

_Let's save Lee_

* * *

The first month of school had already rolled by and Hikari now felt used to the school. Her thoughts of Arata were slimming down to every once in a while and not so frequently. She had enjoyed herself now even though there were many secrets flowing around her, but what would highschool be like without them? Boring right? Even so, this Saturday she had agreed to go to Sakura's house for a girl's night slumber party. She could imagine the whole night that the topic would be about boys but she didn't mind. And as far as Naruto, she had grown a close bond with him and still held her rivalry against Sasuke. Everything felt as it should be unlike how she thought things were going to be before.

For now, it was Chemistry class with their teacher Sarutobi, Asuma. Hikari sat at her desk, tapping her pen against her paper and looked to her left at Naruto, who looked bored out of his mind but was surprisingly copying notes. Naruto didn't do much in history class but he seemed to past the tests with flying colors, he never seemed interested in any subject yet he passed all his classes with A's and B's. Upon noticing of her staring, the blue-eyed boy had looked in her direction with a curious expression. Her eyes widened upon being caught and then looked away.

Soon enough, the class had come to an end and everyone had stood up and bowed to the teacher before leaving. Hikari had let out a sigh, glad today wasn't her day to clean up the building. She had walked forward, her eyes scanning around the place until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked to her left and smiled as she saw that it was Ten-Ten, "You still coming next Saturday? We got Hinata able to come." She said.

"Yeah," Hikari replied the smile still on her face. Soon enough Ten-Ten waved goodbye and left, leaving Hikari walking by herself to the shoelocker. Upon reaching it, she had seen Lee leaning against it. "Lee?" She called him, surprised by his appearance. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I really, really need your help." He said, which surprised her. "There was supposed to be a big event at the police station and my father's store was going to take advantage of the event. But now since the event is cancelled, my father's plan is down the tubes. My dad is really in a fix now." Lee head had lowered, his eyes revealing his worry and sadness. "He worked so hard to put this whole thing together, and I can't stand to see him like this… I can't just let it go."

"So what do you want me to do about?" Hikari asked, pointing to herself. "From the way it sounds, I've gotta say, I don't think I can be much help."

"I want you to help me with some tasks, I've wanted to ask others but I needed to know if you would be the first one to commit." He then sighed, as if scared to speak. "Um… Hikari… Well, if you could, y'know, do an event at my father's store…?"

"You want me to substitute for a celebrity?" Her eyes were wide, "Who would go see a nobody instead of a celebrity?"

"I don't know. I may be my father's son, but I'm still only a part-timer but my dad's being awfully nice for some reason. I think it's possible that he might get fired if this thing falls through. If that happens, I might have to transfer schools again." He then gave out a sad, nervous laugh. "Haha… Seriously, what am I gonna do if that happens?"

The girl in front of him sighed, "Fine. I'll find a way to pull this off." She clenched her hand and then gave him a thumbs up, "You can count on me, Lee!"

Lee gave her a hug and then ran away, his arms in the air full of glee. Hikari smiled for a few minutes but then sighed, what was she going to do? How could she pull this off? Pulling out her cellphone, she decided to send a text message to the people she knew could help.

And with that said, she ran out of the school building.

**-/ - / -**

"Hikari, you messaged us all here. What's the problem?" Sakura asked as they all gathered at the playground not too far from Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Hikari's home. All those who came were Ino, Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, Neji, and Ten-Ten.

The auburn-haired girl looked at all of them and then placed her hand on the back of her head. "Well, I need you all to help me, help Lee. This Sunday, there was supposed to be an event at the Police Satation and Lee's family were going to rake in on a sale by the event. So, in order to keep the event he needs and act and I want all of us to be a group act. As in a band."

"A WHAT?!" All of them yelled, surprised.

"I-I'm not idol!" Sakura was the first to say.

"Neither am I, but I know we can all pull this off if we do this together."

Ino then folded her arms and looked away in thought, "It would be troublesome if people came to recruit me to be an idol."

Neji rolled his eyes, "I don't you are worrying about the right thing here, Ino." He then looked at Hikari, "Bu t if you're gonna sing, what're we supposed to do on stage?"

"I need a band of course. I'll doubt I could carry that whole thing on my own." Hikari sighed.

Naruto then grew nervous, "Whoa, whoa! There's no way we can pull off something like that."

"I have some experience playing the Keyboard." Ten-Ten said, "My grandfather suggested I take piano lessons when I was younger. I have one that I can bring as well."

"You're up for this?!" Sakura said, surprised.

"Lee is one of my closest friends." Ten-Ten nodded, "I will do whatever I can to help. If he had asked me sooner, I would've."

"Ten-Ten, thanks!" Hikari beamed.

"If it's music you need, I have a guitar!" Naruto then said, "I've never really played it, though." He then lifted a finger, remembering something. "Oh, wait… I accidently bought a bass once. I think it's in storage."

Sakura gave Naruto a deadpanned expression, "How do you 'accidently' buy something like that!? I bet you just thought it was another guitar."

"Then it's decided!" Hikari said happily, "I'll look for a song I can sing that can use a band arrangement. You get instruments, and we'll practice in the music room at school."

"All right! Now that this is happening, I'm getting fired up about it." Ino said, feeling confident in the band.

* * *

It was the next day and after school. Everyone in the band had met up in the music room, even to Hikari's surprise Sasuke had actually decided to be involved even though he kept quiet on the whole thing. But how long would that last? She wasn't sure. "So, what are we going to do with these?" Ino asked, looking at the table full of instruments. Leaning on the table was the guitar and bass, on the table was a trumpet, tambourine, saxophone, and symbol. "I just grabbed whatever I could find that wasn't being used by the symphonic band."

"I'll choose this then." Sakura picked up the tambourine, looking at it curiously.

"Come on, we need stuff like guitars instead of little backup instruments like these." Naruto sighed. "Hey, I'll play the guitar. Why don't you take the bass, Sasuke?" He asked as Sasuke gave him a curious stare. "If you need help I can at least teach you a bit."

"Unlike you, Naruto, I can actually play an instrument." He said as he walked over towards the black bass and picked up. He began tuning it up and then played a few notes, everyone amazed by his talent.

Sakura and Ino looked like they had hearts for eyes, ahhing and sighing over Sasuke's guitar playing. Naruto narrowed his eyes, jealous as Hikari placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Naruto." She tried to comfort him, but it did little to his bruised ego. "Well then, since you two and Ten-Ten have decided what to play, let's put Neji on drums."

"Hey, hey! Why don't I get to picky?" Neji said, confused why his instrument was chosen for him.

Hikari then rubbed the back of her head, "But out of all of us, the drums fit you."

"I think you'd be good at the drums. You're always hitting and stomping on things, after all." Naruto commented, Hikari and the others having an anime-esque bead of sweat rolling down the back of their heads at his words.

"How does that make any sense!?" The Hyuga grew more confused and agitated.

Naruto shrugged it off, only irritating Neji more. "When I'll play, it'll be charming. I'll be like: 'Hey, baby! I'll lay down the passionate beats that flow from my soul!'"

Another bead of sweat rolled down everyone's head, "Uh… So that leaves Ino and me?" Sakura pointed out.

"You two, um…" The girl tilted her head back, tapping her chin in thought. "How about the chorus? There is a part for that."

"S-Singing?!" Sakura repeated, astonished.

Ino immediately waved her hands, "N-No can do! We'll hold something! Let's see… What looks easy…" She picked up the trumpet and Sakura took the sax.

Soon enough, everyone stood behind a music sheet stand with their instruments. Hikari was in the front, Naruto, Ino, Sakura, and Sasuke behind her while behind them was Neji and Ten-Ten.

"Oooh! Doesn't this at least look like a band?" Naruto's cheerful voice filled the room.

"Yeah," Hikari nodded. "I don't think it looks bad at all."

Ino looked at the trumpet and then tried to blow through it twice, but no sound came out. "It's not doing anything…" Sakura noted.

"Is this thing broken? I'm blowing, but the air goes right through." Ino explained.

Hikari sighed, "That's how it is for everyone when they start out. Anyway, we don't have much time, so let's start practicing."

"What's with all the tadpoles on this paper?" asked the Uzumaki, squinting his eyes as he looked at the music sheet.

Even the platinum-blonde female found herself in a fix, "Oh yeah, I don't know how to read music… Ahahaha…" Ino laughed nervously.

"I guess Lee is gonna have to transfer schools after all…" Hikari sighed, losing hope.

Sasuke began to play bass, everyone trying to follow his rhythm. They all had practiced until it got dark. They decided they would meet again tomorrow.

It was the next day, Sunday to be exact, and they were back in the music room. They had practiced all morning and wanted to go through one more try as of now. "Once more from the top!" Hikari said, "One, two, three, four…"

The band started to play their instruments, but instead of sounding great… The only great thing about it was Sasuke's bass. Soon they came to a stop, "Why don't we take a break? We've been at this since morning." Ten-Ten suggested.

"Good idea. My fingers are all stiff…" Then a strange gurgling sound erupted into the air, "And I'm hungry."

"Don't worry. I brought lunches for everyone." Hikari said, "Since I'm asking you all to do this, this was the least I could do." She gave them a nervous smile.

Everyone looked at each other, "You made bentos for all of us?" Ino asked, surprised.

"Well, I was in the mood to cook. Everyone has their own individual meal." She gave them a warm smile, "It took me all night, really."

Sasuke closed his eyes, "So where are they?"

She held out her hand and went to her backpack and pulled out two bags of bentos. "Here they are. You guys can take any which ones you want." She said as each one grabbed and individual bento.

"This looks great." Sakura beamed, having a bento of small bite-sized sandwiches.

Everyone sat in a chair and began to eat. Even though the food brought them some comfort, everyone was still worried about the event was going to turn out. "Are we really going to manage this?" Ten-Ten expressed her concern, "I'm starting to get the feeling that it's impossible, no matter what we do."

Everyone lowered their head, also feeling the same. "There's just not enough time." Sakura sighed.

Everyone was silent again. Naruto then stood, "Show some spirit!"

Hikari looked up at him, "You really get into that do-or-die spirit sometimes, don't you?" She then smiled, "But that fits you."

"That's right! Everything would've been for nothing if we give up now." Neji joined Naruto in standing, showing his determination as well.

"A real brawl doesn't begin until you've got your back to a wall!" Naruto continued on to say.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Naruto, we're here to start a band, not a fight club."

"I'll do it too!" Ino stood, "It's not just about Lee now. I'll simply feel angry at myself if I give up."

Hikari smiled, "I can't let Lee down. I agreed to do this, so I'll do it." She smiled, now feeling that wave of determination everyone was getting. "I didn't say anything pathetic like 'I'll do what I can.' There's going to be a huge crowd and the least I can do is let them go home satisfied."

Sakura blinked a couple of times, "Wow. Now that's how a pro delivers a team-boosting speech."

Ten-Ten chuckled, "Well then, should we eat up and resume our practice?"

"All right, let's do this!" The blond Uzumaki cheered, everyone throwing a fist in the air with their confidence back.

Once their lunch break was over, everyone picked up their instruments and stood by hind their sheet music stand. "Okay, let's try putting your music together, and I'll sing along." Hikari instructed.

"W-Whoa, wait a sec!" Naruto said, everyone turning their attention to him. "Can't we get a little more practice before we try doing that stuff?"

She shook her head, "I don't want to just sit and watch you practice without me anymore. I'm seeing how hard you're trying." She think looked at the microphone, "Here it goes! One, two, three, four!"

Everyone began to play, "Sha la la. I'm sure, someday, I'll obtain it. Softly in my fleeting heart, a light is burning." She looked at everyone as they were focused on their instruments and the music sheet, she smiled as she continued to sing. "The 'urge' of wanting to see you, the 'innocence' that made me want to cry. The fireflies that flew into the fire of summer will not return." She cut the song short, everyone stopped and look around.

Naruto was the most amazed, "That…! Didn't that sound pretty good!?" He expressed his joy.

Ino was excited as well, "That was actual music!"

"Yeah, it felt good!" Hikari commented, happy as well.

"It seems there's hope after all." Ten-Ten said, a smile on her face.

"We can still do better." Sasuke finally commented, "I don't want to be embarrassed."

"Sasuke's right." Sakura agreed, "We should take it from the time, at least one more time today."

Hikari nodded, agreeing. "Let's keep up that energy we had before!"

Everyone nodded and they all practiced until late into the night.

* * *

It was Friday and it was time for the event. Most of the group was gathered backstage, they formed a small circle, all chatting about little stuff until Lee came walking towards him. "I am so glad you all are doing this for me. There is no possible way to think of something I can do as a thanks." He said, tears in his eyes as he was overwhelmed with joy.

Suddenly, Ino came running up to them. "Crap… The crowd's a lot bigger than I expected!"

"D-Don't say stuff like that! You're making me even more nervous!" Sakura whined, her hands on her head as her knees buckled.

"Are our costumes okay? I mean they're just our normal uniforms…" Neji pointed out.

"What else could we have done?" Sasuke asked, "It's not like we have any costumes."

"O-O crap. I-I can't stop my legs from shaking." Sakura mumbled, growing more anxious as the seconds went by.

Hikari looked at her, worried. "Are you okay, Ten-Ten?"

She was the only one who didn't appear nervous other than Sasuke. "I did piano recitals when I was younger, so I'm fine." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

"How about you, Sasuke? Hikari didn't even know why she bothered to even ask.

"I'm fine." The dark-haired Uchiha said, folding his arms.

"…. You really are something." The auburn-haired teen said, a sigh escaping her.

"Its fine, guys. We'll be great. The crowd just wants to have fun, so it doesn't matter if we make some mistakes. Now, whose ready?"

"We are!" The group cheered as they made their way to the stage grabbing their instruments.

"All right, let's do this!" Sakura cheered.

Naruto began playing the guitar, the pick strumming the chords of the song and his fingers gliding up and down the instruments neck. Soon Sasuke came following with the base, Neji following up with the drums, both Sakura and Ino with the trumpet and sax, and Ino smoothing in with the keyboard.

"Sha la la. Sha la la. I'm sure, someday, I'll obtain it. Softly in my fleeting heart, a light is burningHikari began to sing, looking out into the crowd with a confident smile and a cheerful gaze. "The 'urge' of wanting to see you, the 'innocence' that made me want to cry. The fireflies that flew into the fire of summer will not return."

Hikari soon found herself stepping along the beat of the song, holding the microphone and the stand and moving it around. "Don't say anything, just leave me with a kiss. Whilst being burn, you nodded life, to the point of sadness, flickered. Sha la la. I'm sure, someday, I'll obtain it. Softly in my fleeting heart, a light is burning. Sha la la. Person dear to me, you, too, can see it. The dazzling moon softly illuminates tomorrow shining strongly, strongly ~ "

Naruto smiled as looked out in the crowd, both Sakura and Ino dancing along and waving their arms to the excited crowd. Lee watched from backstage, stars for eyes as the sale going on into the store would prove to be rather successful.

"In my violent heart, the nearly lost memories that had been blow out are gently lit again. I got the feeling that if I ran on in a daze, I'd touch it. So I go on, arms outstretched. Life, to the point of pain, flickers. Sha la la. I want to go on singer forever. Softly in my shivering heart, a light is burning. Sha la la. Person dear to me, so that I can reach you, let these feelings softly be invited to the endless sky. Let them resound strongly, strongly ~"

Hikari looked back at Naruto and gave him a smile before looking back into the crowd. People in the crowd began waving their hands, Hikari placing her hand in the sky. "Sha la la. I'm sure, some day, the fireflies will stop lighting. Softly in my disappearing heart, a dream is shining. Sha la la. Person dear to me, don't you forget, either! Softly in the glittering summer, wishes are piling up. Sha la la. I'm sure, someday, I'll obtain it . Softly in my fleeting heart, a light is burning. Sha la la. Person dear to me, you, too, can see it. The dazzling moon softly illuminates tomorrow shining strongly, strongly!"

The song came to an end and the crowed wowed them with cheers and soon shouts of encore. Everyone stood on the stage, surprised by the positivity that flowed from the crowd and towards them. "They're asking for an encore…" Neji said in disbelief.

"Oh yeah… I didn't think about that…" Hikari sighed, now nervous.

"We only know one song!" Sakura pointed out.

Ino then looked panicked, "What do we do now?"

Ten-Ten then came up with some ideas, "There are only two things we can do: ignore them and leave, or play the same song over again…"

"M-Maybe we can have Hikari explain our situation, and they'll go easy on us and let us replay that song." Naruto hoped, feeling a bit nervous as well.

Without a second thought, they saw Sasuke run and then jumped into the crowd. "Is he… Is he crowd surfing?" Naruto looked in disbelief along with everyone else.

"Sasukeeeeeeee!" A bunch of girls squealed as the Uchiha was being carried along through the crowd.

The Uzumaki then narrowed his eyes and looked over to Neji, "Hey, why don't we all dive into the crowd! They might just carry us out of here and we can escape this awkward situation…"

"Stage dive…?" Hikari repeated, almost interested.

"Hey, don't sound so excited!" Sakura yelled, not thinking that it was a good idea.

"Besides if all of us jumped, there would only be trouble." Ten-Ten pointed out.

"Then, what are we gonna do!? Do we have any other way out?" Naruto asked.

"I-If you want to do it that much, then just the guys do it!" The pinkette said, growing frustrated.

"A-All right! Let's do it, Naruto!" Neji said, growing confident with it.

Naruto then grinned, "I'm not gonna be outshined by Sasuke!" Soon enough, Naruto ran and Neji followed behind. The girls looked shocked, "Hey, wait, you idiot!" Sakura yelled, but it was already too late. The crowd immediately split apart and they had fall onto the cold, hard ground.

Naruto's position had to be the worse. He fell flat on his face, his body up in the air as if he was doing a handstand while Neji landed coolly on one knee. "I… didn't know… it was possible… to stand on your own face." Naruto said, wincing each time he spoke, his body twitching.

* * *

Haha, I'm leaving you guys with this short funny chapter.

Next one will be longer and have the slumber party.

**Hikari:** _Feminine form of Japanese unisex Hikaru, meaning "radiance; light."_

**Few Facts/Info:**

Since Hikari is from Osaka, she has a country accent and instead of Okaa-san and Otou-san, she says 'Kaa and Tou.

Abayo is slang for "goodbye"

The song I used in this chapter are:

Hotaru no Hikari by Ikimono Gakari. Yes, its one of the songs from Naruto.


End file.
